‘Go and live in a black country’: Ukip hopeful urges Lenny Henry to leave… again

A Ukip candidate who said Lenny Henry should leave Britain to live in a ‘black country’ has repeated his claim.

William Henwood, who is standing in next week’s local council elections, made the remarks on Twitter after the comic suggested there weren’t enough ethnic minority faces in the media.

Today. he refused to back down, telling the BBC: ‘I think if black people come to this country and don’t like mixing with white people, why are they here? If he wants a lot of blacks around, go and live in a black country.’

Roger Helmer, a Ukip MEP in the West Midlands, insisted Mr Henwood’s comments did not represent the party.

‘We have an individual who has made totally unacceptable comments. But you will find individuals behaving like that in all parties,’ he added.

Mr Henwood is standing as a Ukip candidate in Enfield, north London.

His other tweets include: ‘Islam reminds me of the Third Reich. Strength through violence against the citizens.’

Ukip has said it will investigate and act upon any comments from candidates which breach its ‘non-sectarian and non-racist’ values.

Jeremy Hunt has urged Ukip’s leader, Nigel Farage, to ‘make it clear that the comments are not the party’s view’.

The row follows a tough week for Ukip. It was forced to defend ‘racist’ election posters and Andre Lampitt, who starred in its election broadcast, was suspended after he said Muslims were ‘animals’ and their faith ‘disgusting’.

However, several polls still suggest Ukip has the most support in the European elections. A YouGov poll showed 31 per cent of voters intend to vote Ukip – putting Labour second.